First, as the shortest psalm in the bible, it consists of but two verses — and just two songs later the longest psalm 119 sports 176 verses!

These two verses are nevertheless important ones, presenting statements of the universality of all peoples or nations, and the eternal core of divine love and faithfulness. Psalms for All Seasons says they are ‘two of the most lovely and weighty images in the entire Psalter’.(p.737)

Second, even though the psalm is omitted from the Lectionary, yet the settings in our psalters and lists of classical settings online are legion — two in TiS, six in PFAS and nearly 60 online in CPDL. Brevity, rejoicing and simplicity all add to the allure of this little gem, a gift for song-writers it would seem.

So what did they write?

PFAS has several Taiwanese, French, Spanish and English options.

Together in Song has an Isaac Watts hymn and the Taizé refrain in PFAS.

In the more classical arena composers range from Anon. and Bach to Victoria and Vivaldi, with many names in between both famous and obscure